New Zealand Datsun Club

Jumped on Facebook marketplace, started scrolling I didn’t have anything really in mind it just had to be manual and preferably something “different” this is what I found, 2 rusty old 720s one is a 85 and the other one is a 83 I took them to my lock up, began checking everything out and assessing which one was going to be less complicated to repair, rust wise, I decided to keep the white one, and strip all the parts and any panels I may need and try to make one out of two, I have no real history on either of the Utes but it later became obvious to me that someone had in my opinion planned on restoring that white one I wish I documented more but it is what it is so here is just some of the rust.. there was a lot! Stripped it down of all its parts minus a few things just to keep the chassis rolling At this point I decided it was going to be easier to just paint strip the whole lot featuring my dog, I’ve never painted a car before but figured there’s not much to a Ute area wise, and so it can’t be too bad right… but it definitely made life a lot easier with all the rust repair needed and it actually exsposed a lot hidden under layers and layers of bog and again helped prep the replacement panels
Cleaned up the chassis and surprise surprise what do yah know more rust!

At this point I figured I found it all and begun repairing everything and getting it ready for rust converter and then seam sealer both the chassis and body

Having some issues uploading my photos bare with me

More seam sealer, tried to put it on where it matters and then some I get carried away with my projects plus it looked good

Started putting it back together some what getting ready for paint prep and also found some new body mounts in some boxes the Utes came with

I also noticed the blue Ute that I cut up had a more modern style brake caliper so I swapped out for those while I was In there, though what I think is the older set up was painted and looked cooler I liked the idea of having a more simple brake set up and something I can easily replace seals on if need be, they both have brand new pads and rotors tho they have been sitting some time, nothing a scuff and a heat cycle won’t fix. More wins!

We are about a month in since viewing the Utes not bad considering I took another week before taking them to the lock up and the work I’ve done, though I’m no stranger to steel and here comes all the paint prep, bog, lots of sanding and clean clean clean on top of massive amounts of dust, here I lost another month getting the prep and then paint done but I’m happy with the results. I got some runs in my clear coat but from what I understand I can wet sand it carefully and then polish it and we should be good just need the paint and clear to fully cure which can take a good month at least from what I understand. I also tried to apply extra clear coat in certain areas especially where my dog hangs out the door haha also had some issues at my lock up so in conclusion my excuse is I had to cut my hours down, oh and have I mentioned it needs to be completed asap so without trying to rush it I’m rushing it..

I actually built 2 portals, the bits are gathering up and I’m yet to bring my other project in so started building a mezzanine, you can see the frames in the background of the last photo, so I actually lost a few days there too but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity and means more space. But now we’re Primed inside and out, decided to just make a chin spoiler but couldn’t decide which way to taper the ends and what size to have it so after a lot of drawing on it I decided to go with the jdm style as you should see below. Audi do a real nice grey called nardo grey, it always catches my eye and I wanted to go a pastel kind of colour but nothing tooo much and I figured why not

A lot of the paint stuff I took videos so here’s a sneak of the colour though it is a few steps ahead there

The beauty of having had the 2 Utes is that I have almost 2 of everything so it was just a matter of picking the better condition stuff and in some cases picking the more faded stuff cause I believe it should take the paint better on the plastics anyways. I know paints not the best on plastic but it looks the part for now and I’m not after some show car I do plan on using it so here begins the process of cleaning blacking out and reassembling and installing the new parts, here I found a brand new washer bottle and pump with line, win. Also got the windows in with the new seals I got as the old ones basically crumbled apart taking them out. Looking good I say

Decided to pull it out for the first time and see it in the sun also needed to spin it around to get ready for the motor to go back in.